Would You Take My Hand?
by TheInsomniacWriter
Summary: Ignis Scientia works for the Crownsguard, often taking care of the Prince as well as cooking for him. Everything's fallen into a routine and each day is the same... Until a woman joins the Crownsguard. She is a beautiful lady and works hard each and every day. Unfortunately, she has one secret that nobody knows about. She has extreme asthma. Ignis X OC slowburn.
1. Chapter One: A New Member

'Sir,' Ignis bowed to his king before leaving his office. He looked at his watch before closing the door behind him. It was time to start cooking for his highness again, unfortunately it wasn't the easiest task. Prince Noctis hated vegetables and refused to eat them each and every day. Regardless of what Ignis would be cooking up, he never ate his greens. He shoved back his glasses and walked down the stairs, on his way to the kitchen. The citadel had its own cooks, of course, but the Prince always asked for Ignis' cooking. And since Ignis was a man of few complaints, he always cooked for his highness. He swore to take care of the Prince after all, no matter how annoying or bratty he would act.

It was just like any other day. He had finished his shift at the citadel, he would cook for the Prince, then he'd train with Gladios until sunset. He had his own room, which he only used to sleep in and write political reports. He often came there after meetings to summarize their discussions in his notebook. All in all, he was a hard worker.

He brought his freshly made stew up to the Prince's room and knocked on the door before entering.

'Hey Iggy! What have you got for me today?' He was beaming, he loved Ignis' cooking. Even though he hated vegetables.

'Today, I've made pork stew. I do hope you enjoy it, Prince Noctis.' He bowed and was about to take his leave, when the Prince let out a breathy groan.

'I told you to stop calling me that. We're practically family, just call me Noctis.' He'd been saying that for the past year or more, he didn't want to be treated like a Prince. Ignis did understand, but it still didn't feel right for him to do so.

'Perhaps I could stop calling you Prince, if you started eating your greens, highness.' The corners of his mouth curled up, grinning slightly. Noctis let out a small chuckle.

'We both know that won't be happening, but I admire your attempt on trying.' Ignis sighed, but continued to smile as he left the quarters. It was just past seven and he still needed to train with Gladios. He made his way through the citadel to meet up with the tattooed man in the garden. He passed King Regis' office, where he heard an unfamiliar voice.

'I'm glad to have you as part of our Crownsguard now. You will surely be an honorable addition to the team.' He heard the king say. Perhaps another person was hired as Crownsguard. Not many passed the test and nobody had been hired in the past few years or so.

'I feel honored to work under you, my king.' Ignis stopped in his steps and turned to the closed door beside him. It was a female voice. There were no females among the Crownsguards, even if he thought nothing of it before. He felt that either gender was equal and everyone had their own strengths and weaknesses. When he heard footsteps, he turned to continue his way to the garden.

'Ah! Ignis, good to see you here my man.' King Regis had opened the door and his eyes fell immediately on the bespectacled man. 'Say, would you mind showing miss Ethrean around?' A figure popped up from behind the door, the slowly walked passed the King and bowed to Ignis. Once she was in his sight, he was suddenly at a loss for words. It was rather rare for that to happen. His eyes glided over her face, then all the way down to her shoes. He was silently admiring her physique, but his facial expression showed his usual nonchalance.

Ignis bowed back, he'd never seen a woman like her in Insomnia before. She seemed to be not from around here. Her grey-blue eyes stood out on a silky pale face. She had a couple of barely-visible freckles and rosey-gold hair tucked in a slightly messy and high ponytail. She was of average height and wore a black blouse and a high waisted dark bluem pleaded skirt which fell over her knees. Her hands were hidden in a pair of dark blue gloves and had tiny bows on the back of her wrists. Her black ankle boots completed her outfit and fit her well.

'Mr. Ignis Scientia,' she began and straightened up after her bow, 'I'm honored to meet such a capable Crownsguard member.' She finished off, softly smiling at him. The King closed the door behind him, leaving the two alone.

'Ah, yes, Miss-' He didn't completely know her name yet. She received the hint and finished his sentence.

'My name is Hestia Fraenia Ethrean, many call me Fray and my family used to call me Hessy.' She seemed to have dropped the formalness to a lower level. Not that he minded, they were all practically on the same level. He smiled back at her.

'You already know my name I see, nevertheless, a pleasant meeting. I presume I should show you around the citadel.' She nodded and followed Ignis to the garden, where they met up with Gladios. The two introduced themselves, with an occasional wink from the tattooed man. But soon enough, he was shot down after asking if she would like to have a drink with him after her shift. She apologized and they continued their way through the kingdom.


	2. Chapter Two: Nightmares

'And that was our tour for the day, I have some training to do with Gladios. Would you care to join us?' Ignis said as they walked through the diner together. She followed him through the long hallways, staying silent. She'd have loved to practice, but she hadn't taken her medication yet. She chewed her lip as Ignis turned around to face her. 'Perhaps another time?' He wasn't going to ask her the reason, maybe she was just tired.

'I'm alright, I just - I'm tired, I should-' She started coughing, wiping her forehead. They'd been walking a lot today, Ignis didn't seem exhausted in the least. He must be used to it.

'Miss Ethrean, are you alright?' He cocked a brow and his gaze pierced through her.

'Just call me Hestia... Please.' He held out his hand, gesturing for her to hold it. She decided to take it after a moment of doubt.

'I'll guide you to your room, just tell me where you reside.' She nodded and told him which part of the Citadel she stayed at. He guided her perfectly and showed her the shortcuts. From the looks of it, it seemed he'd been a member of the Crownsguard for quite a while. Hestia studied Ignis' from the corner of her eye. He was elegant and wasn't overly muscular, the shape of his jaw was quite attractive. His eyes, too, made her melt a little. But she couldn't give in, not now. She didn't need a boyfriend, she was here to serve the King and nothing else.

'We've arrived, are you sure you'll be alright?' He seemed fairly concerned. He didn't look at her until he'd opened her bedroom door. Ignis seemed quite content with walking her back, such a gentleman.

'I-I'm fine Ignis, go train with Gladios. I'll just take a short nap before my swimming routine.' He raised an eyebrow again, not so much as in confusion, but more as in disbelief.

'You swim? It is very rare for Crownsguard members to swim these days. Most of them prefer to train or run. The pool hasn't been used in quite a while.' She shrugged and started breathing a little heavier. The bespectacled man opened his mouth, wanting to ask again if she was alright, but changed his mind last minute. He didn't want to pry into her personal life. 'But very well, please do message me if you need anything,' he bowed and with that he turned around and left. She could still hear his footsteps in the distance as she closed the door behind her and take a seat. She burrowed her head in the palms of her hands. She sniffled a little, she showed weakness again. She didn't want anyone to know what's going on with her. Opening the drawer the grabbed her bottled pills and glanced at it.

'If only I didn't need you to function properly.' With a sigh, she took one and downed a whole bottle of water to get rid of the nasty taste it left in her mouth. It was getting quite late and with quite some effort, she managed to undress down to her underwear to lie down in bed. Only an hour she told herself, that's all she'd need. Well, she hoped she would. Her body was shivering a little, although she wasn't exactly cold - just tired.

Hestia started heaving, she was having a nightmare, which also affected her body and asthma.

She was running through a forest, a dark and lonely forest. Only echoes of footsteps running towards her were heard. Not one bird, or any other animal to be seen. She was starting to get tired, but couldn't stop running. Else they'd catch her and she didn't want to go back to that place. She only just escaped from there not too long ago. A ray of light forced itself through the leaves onto the ground ahead of her. A figure had appeared. A woman in a long white dress and she couldn't tell if it was a ghost, spirit or even who it was supposed to be.

'My dear Hestia,' it spoke, stopping her in her tracks. She stood still, she recognized that voice.

'Mother, oh mother, is that you?!' She slowly walked closer, completely blocking out the sound of the nearing footsteps.

'Hestia, please-' She blinked and dropped down onto her knees.

'Mother, w-what is it?'

' **RUN**.' Her voice echoed through the entire forest as the figure seemed to explode in light before vanishing completely.

Hestia tried to speak, but all the sound and noises had disappeared. Was she deaf? She turned around, seeing a dark appearance run towards her at the speed of light. She tried to yell, she was panicking now. Was it going to attack her?

'Hello Hestia,' it stopped in front of her and whispered into her ear. All the sound in the world seemed to have disappeared, all but his voice.

'I've missed you.' It said, and slowly but surely his appearance started to become more clear, it was a man with red hair, wearing a hat. He was dressed in old-fashioned but seemingly expensive attire, it suited his accent too well. The man was cackling and within a split second, had his fingers wrapped around her throat.

Her groans were getting louder as sweat rolled down her forehead, half her body was wet and left the bed soaked wherever she rolled. She slowly opened her eyes, but was only able to open them half. Her body shivering and her mouth dry as the Sahara. She tried to swallow, in attempt to get rid of the immense dryness in her throat. She just wanted to get up and drink water, but her body wouldn't move. Her throat felt like it was on fire, burning; she couldn't breathe. A wave of panic overcame her, thinking this would be her last moment. She winced in pain and clawed at her throat, her panic growing bigger. One loud yelp which echoed through the room. A sudden knock on the door made her flinch. She couldn't talk nor move, all she could do was groan and cry.

'Miss Eth-, Hestia? Are you okay? I was passing the quarters and heard a noise.' But Hestia didn't answer, she clawed more at her throat. Ignis knew something was up mumbled an 'I apologise for the intrusion' and took a step back from the door, only to ram in the door with his shoulder. The door slammed against the wall, but slowly shut by itself. He got closer to her and pushed back his glasses, his face showed a hint of fear and concern. But he did his best to stay calm. He knew by staying calm, the person in need would also be a lot calmer.

'Can you hear me? Hestia?' He wasn't particularly phased by her her attire, well at least he didn't show it. He wasn't one to make ladies feel uncomfortable or do anything against their will. He grabbed her hands, to stop her from clawing. Soon enough he realised she was having trouble breathing. He took a swift look around the room only to let his eyes fall on a bottle of pills. He couldn't see what was written on it and decided not to pay too much attention to it. He lifted her up and laid her on the ground, without saying a word, he flipped his body to sit his back against the wall. He carefully dragged Hestia towards himself by holding her under her armpits. Her back was facing him as he sat her up just a little.

'Breathe with me, Hestia.' Was all he said and had one hand on her forehead and the other under her chin. She choked and sobbed, but it ceased after a short while. Her breathing still heavy, but slightly more regular. Her head was resting against his chest. It wasn't his breathing that slowly calmed her down, but his heartbeat did. It was a little faster than normal but considering the situation, it wasn't all that odd. She closed her eyes and fisted the floor. She slowly came to her senses and felt her body cool down. Her legs, arms, back and neck were completely soaked in sweat. She felt dirty, but nonetheless was happy Ignis was there. She wasn't even that embarrassed about her being in her underwear. All she felt was relief, although she still cried. Tears formed in the corners of her eyes and her lips parted. She softly started weeping, in fear of what could've happened if he hadn't found her.

'It's alright to cry, I'm here with you. I won't leave until you're alright.' Those words hit her even harder, it reminded her of her mother. Slowly but surely she started thinking back about the nightmare she had. Did that really happen or was it just a dream? She couldn't remember much of her younger years, but she knew there was some history in that dream. Had she met that man before? Hestia sighed deeply and once again closed her eyes, she was worn out. It didn't take her long to embrace the darkness once again.


End file.
